Former Union Grove Water Supply business manager indicted

GILMER (TYLER MORNING TELEGRAPH) -- The former longtime business office manager of the Union Grove Water Supply Corporation has been indicted on a felony charge of stealing at least $20,000 from the firm, Upshur County District Attorney Billy Byrd said today.

Janna Goza, 44, of Union Grove, turned herself in to authorities about 6 p.m. Monday after the county grand jury returned a sealed indictment against her the prior Wednesday on a charge of theft of property of the value of $20,000 or more but less than $100,000, Byrd said.

She was released from county jail at 10:15 p.m. Monday on a $20,000 surety bond which was set in the indictment by 115th District Judge Lauren Parish, Byrd said.

The district attorney said some members of the corporation's board met with him in late December after an individual brought a complaint to the board. Byrd said he and his investigator, Jon Warren, "very quickly. . .determined that there was a crime. We opened a full investigation at that point."

Mrs. Goza, who worked for the corporation about 14 years in the same capacity, was placed on administrative leave in January and the board terminated her in late February or early March, Byrd said.

The money was allegedly stolen in "a continuous course of conduct going back to January 2010 until February of this year," he said.

A large number of the corporation's customers "paid cash to pay their bills, but that cash never made it to the bank," Byrd said. Mrs. Goza "controlled all the money in accounts," ran the corporation's day-to-day operations, and "was generally the only one in the office," Byrd told The Tyler Paper.

He said he and Warren went through years of data on the corporation's bank accounts and business accounts, and that Warren had the firm's computer analyzed by an expert in what Byrd termed a "paper trail case."

The state did not specify exactly how much money Mrs. Goza is charged with taking, other than the range listed in the indictment.

Byrd said the case would go to trial late this year or early in 2013.

There was no answer this morning at a Gladewater phone number listed in the name of Janna Goza when The Tyler Paper attempted to reach the defendant for comment. She resides in Union Grove, but has a Gladewater address, Byrd said.